Cone's Corner Becomes E. 10th St. Plaza

One of the busiest Interstate interchanges in Sioux Falls is getting a new look.

Last Spring five businesses were taken out of a stretch of East 10th Street by a fire. But now, new life is rising from the ashes.

"I used to live in the neighborhood and I'm kind of partial to it and stuff. I enjoy the area and I saw what used to be here and I was looking at doing improvements to the neighborhood," Developer Gene Peska said.

Peska has built a $1.5 million strip mall transforming the old Cone's Corner into the new East 10th Street Plaza.

"The space we're in right now, this is where Aaron's furniture rental is going to be. We've got the Crown Casino, an existing tenant and they're going to continue here. We've got an end cap where we want some sort of sub shop, we have a drive in facility there," Peska said.

With tenants set to move in by August first, dog groomer Marilyn Heidzig is hoping the project will benefit her neighboring business too.

"I think adding the strip mall is a very good idea. It will help us to build up our clientele because people will see there's a grooming shop right across the street from there, we might as well check it out," Heidzig said.

She hopes the new construction will push other businesses on the block to spruce things up.

"I agree we need new buildings around here. I believe the Rushmore needs to be rebuilt and just everything needs to be redone and bring it up to date," Heidzig.

The former neighborhood boy thinks his investment will pay off in more ways than one.

"We've had a lot of positive input from the neighborhood. They've been very happy with what we've done over here, so we're excited to help build on this East end over here," Peska said.

Peska says he also plans to build a 2,000 square foot end cap on the East side of the building once he gets another tenant to commit.